Of Christmas, Wishes and little Wonders
by SoraTadano
Summary: Niou as an angle. Does that really work out?


Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis

* * *

For the first time in his long life the blond angel felt utterly lost. He sighed, how could a Christmas Angel get lost?

He had been supposed to find out what the young man he was responsible for really wants for Christmas.

"You're a hopeless case of an angel, Niou." , he said to himself.

The blond had always known that he was not suited for this job. This task should teach him a lesson, because he had not been the nicest person in his life on earth...

So now he was stuck with this job until he was worthy of beeing reborn.

"Where is this guy?!"

Niou was fed up with this, he wanted to get back home and not search for that person. Besides no one older than six believed in Christmas or angels anymore.

* * *

Just when the angel had wanted to leave, his target sat down on one of the benches in the park.

"Great, he just has to appear now." Niou growled, more than annoyed already.

"Hey, why the grim expression? Christmas is just around the corner," the blond said, now visible for everyone, while he took the seat next to his target.

"I don't know any reason why my mood should be of any concern to you." Was the polite but cold answer of the bespectacled man.

"I'm just wondering how one could be so, hmm, gloomy during this time of the year." , not that you're ever cheerful, Niou added in his mind.

"This time of the year? Do you mean Christmas? Because if you do, you are talking to the wrong person. I don't care much for it."

"Who would have guessed that." The angel said in an ironic tone.

The young man just adjusted his glasses. "Your point being?"

Niou wished to hit his head against something. This guy was just too much.

"I am just trying to be friendly. I mean most people are happy during this time, for more reasons than Christmas." Niou tried to reason.

"Hmm."

"Very vocal."

"You talk enough for two."

"I'm sooo sorry. Will you tell me what's wrong now?" Oh the blond was so fed up with this, it could take all day.

"No, thank you for your concern but I will leave now." With that the bespectacled male got up.

"Wait! Tezuka!"

When the man stopped, Niou realized that he had done something very stupid. "How do you know my name?" Was asked in a serious and somewhat angry tone.

"First: It's a long story. Second: You wouldn't believe me. And third: I can't really tell you here."

Tezuka raised an eyebrow. "Try me."

"Not here."

"My place, now."

* * *

"And that's why I know you." Niou said, well knowing that he was doomed now. They way Tezuka looked at him was cold and very angry. "You expect me to believe this? There are no angels and Christmas is nothing but a commercial holiday." Anger was boiling in his voice.

"Yes, I do." Niou could practically feel the cold anger of the other.

"Get. Out."

"No."

"You are insane."

Now it was the angels turn to be angry. "I am not. I'll show you." With that Niou did something no angel should ever do, he opened his wings.

The brunette could not believe his eyes. "But that..."

"Touch them if you still don't believe it." The blond said, grinning.

At first Tezuka was hesitating but a soft flap of Niou encouraged him. "They are soft and warm."

A soft purr like sound came from Niou at the soft caresses.

"Why did you watch over me?"

"To find out what your heart wishes for. I'm supposed to grant you that one wish."

"What will happen when your job is done?"

"You'll forget all this here. I'll be nothing more than a forgotten dream, but you'll be happy 'cause your one true wish will be fullfilled."

Silence fell over the two after Niou's answer. The blond sat down, while Tezuka was still standing on the same spot, lost in though.

* * *

It was evening when Niou declared that he would be staying with Tezuka, of course only to make it easier to finish his job.

"Niou what will happen if I don't have a true wish?" Tezuka asked carefully. "Don't know, never happened before. You see every human has such a wish, but some need more time to find it than others. And if you should be the one huge exception, than my boss would decide what to do." Niou answered casually. "And if it was something you can not grant? Like bringing a person back to life?" "Then we would make sure that you'll meet his or her incarnation. The most difficult wishes are more bound to love and other strong emotions. 'Cause even we can't make people love each other." The angel explained.

"So in the end you can't work wonders."

"We can but even if we would make people fall in love they would never be truly happy. The love would just feel wrong."

Tezuka nodded, the way Niou had explained it, it made sense to him. "And wishes for money or power?"

"Very easy to grant but for most never turn out the way they had hoped." Niou explained with a bored expression.

"I see."

* * *

The days passed, but there was simply nothing Tezuka truly wished for. He was happy with his life.

One of these days Niou, who had been living with the man, said "I'll have to go back soon."

Tezuka rose an eyebrow and asked, "Why would that be the case?"

"Well, I am a Christmas Angel. So I can only stay here during this season and it is about to end, you know."

Now Tezuka blinked, had time really passed that quickly? "What about your job and about my memories of... it all?" He asked carefully.

Niou pointed up and said, "I'll be watching you from up there and you won't remember me or any of this. In your memory these past days will be like any other, without me in them."

"Hmm."

With that a heavy silence fell over them. None of them know how to react to the fact of there soon parting.

* * *

And in the end, that day came. Niou gave one last look to Tezuka.

The angel knew that a goodbye would be pointless.

A sigh escaped him before he plucked one of his feathers out. "Farewell, Tezuka." With that he placed the feather on Tezuka's forehead, where it melted away in a soft glow. The young man stirred shortly in his sleep but didn't wake up. Niou turned around and faded away into thin air.

* * *

Niou's superior Yukimura had watched his underling and his fosterling since Niou returned. The blue-haired angel sighed, the two were hopeless. They had not even noticed that they needed each other.

But first he would have to find a loophole for the situation, because officially Niou was dead and they could not bring back the dead.

Yukimura rubbed his temples, this was quite a situation. The human Niou was responsible for was looking more and more haggered, while Niou did nothing but watch him to the point of forgetting everything around him. And now Yukimura was reading rule after rule in the hope of finding a way to help them.

Now that looked promising...

* * *

"Niou, I have to talk to you." Yukimura said in a calm voice.

"Hmm. What?" Niou asked, distracted.

With an annoyed sigh Yukimura made the image of Tezuka disappear. "Hey!"

"You'll listen to me, it concerns you and your fosterling."

"Tezuka?!" Niou asked, surprised.

"I'll send you to earth, a human on trial you could say."

"But Tezuka, his wish!" Niou whimpered desperately.

"I never said, that his wish would not be granted. Here." The higher ranking angel handed Niou a small phial.

"What is that?"

"A potion, to return Tezuka's memories to him and you will live with him again." "Why?"

"Because you need each other. Even without his memories he is missing your presence, or in short: You are his wish." Yukimura explained.

Niou blinked, had he really heard right? He was allowed to be with Tezuka again and maybe get turned into a human? "Are you serious?" He asked in disbelief. "Yes Niou, you'll leave through the official gate this time." A soft smile on Yukimura's lips.

* * *

Niou was more than nervous when he knocked at Tezuka's door. The moment Tezuka opened, he felt a strange, warm sensation as if he should know the man in front of him.

"May I come inside?" Niou asked politely.

Tezuka wasn't sure why he had allowed this stranger to enter his apartment, but here they were sitting in his living room.

"Who are you?" Tezuka finally asked, slowly getting irritated with the other male. "I'm Niou. Would you care for a cup of tea?" The platinum blond asked, as if he was talking about the weather. And for the first time the bespectacled man did not know how to react.

"Pardon?"

"Would you care for a cup of tea? I think I know where to find all I need."

Tezuka was more than confused and the fact that the blond stranger casually walked into his kitchen did not help at all, how did he even know where the kitchen was?

Whie Tezuka was wondering about the situation Niou made tea and emptied the phial into Tezuka's cup. The former angel just hoped that his human would not notice the slight difference in the tea's color.

The brunette eyed the cup and it's content with distrust. He still was not sure if it had been a good idea to accept the tea.

"Don't look at it like that. I didn't put anything in it." Niou complained with a pout. "I don't know you, Niou-kun. Why should I trust you?"

"Then why did you let me in at all?" Tezuka didn't have an answer to that, he was still asking himself why he had done that. To save himself from admitting it the young man took a rather large sip of his tea.

Niou watched Tezuka with curiousity and mild worries, what if it didn't work the way it should or worse what if Tezuka would hate him for all this? The former angel stopped his inner monologue when he noticed the blush on Tezuka's face and the fact that the human had started to sway. Immediately he rushed to Tezuka's side, just in time to catch the now falling man.

* * *

Tezuka groaned when he woke up, his head felt as if it was going to explode.

"Thank god, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

"Like something heavy got dropped on my head." Tezuka replied.

Niou couldn't stop himself from feeling disappointed, he really had hoped that it would work.

"Why do you look so sad Niou? And if I may ask, what are you doing down here as you called it?" Tezuka, now in possession of his glasses, asked.

"I - Wait! Down here? Did you really just ask 'down here'?" Niou exclaimed excited.

"Yes, I did. But why-?" Tezuka stopped in the middle of his question, remembering that he was not supposed to remember Niou and the time with him. But before he could ask about it, Niou had already jumped him and was holding him close now.

"You remembered." That sentence was repeated again and again while tears of joy were falling from Niou's eyes.

Tezuka slowly returned the hug, not quite understanding what was going on, but it didn't matter right now. All that mattered was right here in his arms.

* * *

Yukimura smiled at the scene from up above. Now those two could find their happiness together.


End file.
